[.ca] Cry of the Kalahari (ISBN 0395647800)

Spectacular and IMPORTANT:
The book is a true masterpiece. Moving, funny and heartbreaking. People need to read this to see what animals truly face in the wild, and how we make their lives even more difficult. Its an eye opening account of how we must care for and defend our wildlife. The accounts of devistation to animals just trying to get water to survive is probably the saddest account of animal cruelty I have ever read. Mark and Delia tell a story that MUST BE HEARD!

Good read:
This book is very well done, and does not overstate the case for conservation at all. The Owenses are quite balanced in their views, for example, accepting hunting as being consistent with conservation. They may not be allowed back in Botswana, but the reason is because they embarrased the government into doing something besides pandering to mining interests and the unfortunate local politics. Decide for yourself whether they are right about the effects of fencing and cattle ranching on wildlife, and about the benificial effects of eco-tourism, after reading their book. In any case, you will enjoy their adventures with the animals whether or not you agree with their views about conservation.

An exciting read!:
I can't say enough good things about this book. It is entertaining, exciting, educational and above all a testament to why we need to respect and preserve animals.

A+ Wildlife, F- Conservation:
Mark and Delia Owens do an excellent job in telling a story but their work is not accepted by international conservation thinkers. They try to defend wildlife at all costs which eventually leads to resentment of villagers towards wildlife and thus no incentive to protect it. Thr Owenses are no longer allowed into the democratic country of Botswana. And I don't blame Botswana. I was offended at how they portrayed the Tswana (the dominant ethnic group of Botswana) as nothing but a threat to wildlife. Cry of the Kalahari gives the impression that the Tswana and the bushmen of the Kalahari have no right to use the resources of their land and should be dislocated elsewhere. Their discription of the wildebeast fencing problem in inaccurate. They were not the first to report it as they claimed and in fact they never did a formal study of the fencing problem before they screamed out to the international community for help. Turns out fences help wildlife as well as hurt is by keeping cattle out of protected zones and thus free buffalo, wildebeasts and others from having to compete with them. The Owenses do an excellent job describing wildlife and tell a captivating story but they take a step backwards in trying to conserve the animals they love. By giving the impression that all cattle, all people and all development is evil they propogate the myths of Africa that many more enlightened Botswana park service officials have been trying to dispell.

A must read if you love African wildlife:
Of the many books I've read about wildlife, this one sticks in my mind as one of the best, even though it's been several years since I first read it. Some books like George Schaller's "The Serengeti Lion" have more sceintific bent and therefore keep a 'professional distance' from the animals, while others such as those by Joy Adamson and Gareth Patterson become very personal with the animals and lose much of their objectivity. But Mark and Delia Owens find a happy medium between the two extremes, one where we learn a lot about the lions, brown hyenas and other animals they study in the Kalahari desert, but also come to know some of the individuals among these animals as friends. We also get a taste of life in the Kalahari desert in the middle of Botswana, some of the hardships and life-threatening situations encountered by the Owenses. And we share the issues and concerns they tried to raise in the governments and landowners of the territories where they spent seven years living and studying animals. At various times this book made me smile. It made me mad. It made me sad. It made me laugh. And it made me wish I could spend a few years of my life studying and living among wildlife as they did.